Huawei Mate X and Mate 20 X are bringing blistering 5G speeds to the UK

Huawei has revealed plans to bring its first 5G-enabled smartphones to the UK. The all-new foldable Huawei Mate X and a 5G-touting version of its Mate 20 X handset have been picked as the pioneers.

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The Huawei Mate 20 X 5G will launch on June 3, 2019. The Mate X release date is still unknown, although we do know that plans to launch the folding handset have not been mired by the issues with the rival Samsung Galaxy Fold. Mobile network has already confirmed plans to support the Huawei Mate X later this year. Vodafone will also ship the folding flagship, although it hasn't confirmed a timeframe.

Huawei revealed its 5G-enabled line-up during an event in London on May 16, 2019.

The Chinese company explained that its Mate 20 X 5G differs from the existing Huawei Mate 20 X in a few ways. It now supports 40W fast-charging – an improvement from the 22.5W variant found in the plain ol' 4G model. The new Mate 20 X is also compatible with the M-Pen stylus, which is similar to the S-Pen stylus that defines the Galaxy Note smartphone range from Samsung.

The Huawei handsets join a handful of 5G-enabled handsets already coming to the UK, including the Oppo Reno, Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, and Galaxy Fold – just as soon as it's fixed and ready to launch again. 

EE, Vodafone and Three will all flip the switch on 5G networks very soon. EE has yet to confirm exactly when its new network will roll-out, although it has revealed London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester will be the first to benefit from the blistering new speeds. Meanwhile, Vodafone will turn-on its 5G offerings to customers on July 3 (and will not charge extra for the new speeds).